Technical Barriers to Trade

The East Africa Community secretariat and the European Union are addressing technical barriers to trade in five countries. Standards for sanitary, phyto-sanitary and export regulations that impact Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania are under review with publication of the revisions expected by June.

The EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade (MARKUP) “addresses both supply side and market access constraints of the value chains,” according to a release.

“The program is aimed at supporting EAC partner states’ participation in regional and global markets - with a focus on exports to the European Union,” according to the secretariat. The latest EAC report on trade investment shows EAC global exports decreased 9.3 percent to $14.7 billion in 2017 from $16.2 billion in 2016.

EAC intra-regional exports increased from $2.7 billion in 2016 to $2.9 billion in 2017. Kenya, South Sudan, and Burundi recorded a decline by 7.4%, 24.2%, and 6% respectively.